IPEd remains as is, with no change in structure

$25 of your society membership fee goes to IPEd as a levy. It covers some basic costs such as running the nation IPEd website, secretariat support, and some publication costs, such as the Australian Standards for Editing Practice. If you vote for this option, this arrangement will continue. But be aware: it relies heavily on volunteer effort, which may not continue. It also offers no real support to accreditation (which is currently funded through exam fees) or for promotion or advocacy for either accreditation or the profession. These were key reasons for setting up IPEd.

The increased funding model (IFM)

Under this option, the legal structure of IPEd stays the same: it will continue to be a peak body comprising a representative from each society. The IPEd levy increases to a suggested $150 per full member (potentially raising your total full membership fees to $210 – associates and students will experience similar increases). IPEd proposes to use the money to pay staff to do the promotion and advocacy we have all been wanting for so many years.

The direct membership model (DMM)

Everything changes under this option. We all become direct members of IPEd, for an annual fee of around $240. The money is used to pay staff, to pay for some long-desired functions (as per the IFM model above), but also to run a national website (IPEd + societies) and a newsletter.

Societies will be asked to wind up (but that is a separate process) and become branches of IPEd. IPEd proposes to also take over the freelance register, but it is currently proposed that you will be asked to pay an additional fee of $75. CSE full members currently have this included in the membership fee. The detail of the governance arrangements is yet to be discussed: will there be a governing board, what will it look like, how will members have a say in the running of the new body?

What will your vote do?

If an option gets more than 60 per cent of the vote, IPEd says it will work with the societies “to then develop a detailed implementation and operational plan for the chosen model, including policies, procedures and any necessary constitutional changes, as well as detailed project plans , schedules and budgets … Each society will then need to make a final decision to participate in the implementation and operation of the model, by having members vote on special resolutions.”